#!/usr/bin/env python import sys #def strip(sid): # if sid.startswith("DK_"): # return sid[3:] # elif sid.startswith("DK"): # return sid[2:] # else: # return sid def strip(sid): parts = sid.split("_") for part in parts: if part.startswith("B") and part[1:].isdigit(): return part return sid sid = sys.argv[-1] print(strip(sid))